IAF's Tejas aircraft crashes near Rajasthan's Jaisalmer, pilot ejects safely
The Light Combat Aircraft Tejas is a domestically produced supersonic aircraft.
An Indian Air Force aircraft Tejas crashed near Jaisalmer during an operational training sortie on Tuesday. The pilot had ejected safely before the crash.
“One Tejas aircraft of the Indian Air Force met with an accident at Jaisalmer, today during an operational training sortie. The pilot ejected safely. A Court of Inquiry has been constituted to find out the cause of the accident," the Indian Air Force said in a statement.
The Light Combat Aircraft Tejas is a domestically produced supersonic aircraft. Initiated by the Government of India in 1984, the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) program led to the establishment of the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) to oversee its development.
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited spearheaded the design and development of the aircraft. In 2003, the aircraft was officially named 'Tejas,' which means 'radiance' in Sanskrit, by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. It is the second supersonic fighter jet developed by HAL (the first one being HAL HF-24 Marut).
Earlier last month, a Hawk trainer aircraft of the IAF met with an accident during a training sortie in West Bengal. The plane crashed in the civilian area near the Kalaikunda Air Force Station. However, there was no loss of life or damage to any civilian property. Both the pilots ejected safely.
(With inputs from ANI)